Algeria Country Guide

Discover Algeria in Africa

Travel warning information is updated daily: The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's advisory service suggests to reconsider your need to travel to this country. Take this advice seriously - check with your local authorities whether your exact destination is safe.

Algeria with its capital Algiers is located in Africa (Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea). It covers some 2,381,741 square kilometres (slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas) with 33,739,000 citizens. Arabic is the language commonly used by the people in Algeria. Niger, Western Sahara, Libya, Mauritania, Tunisia, Morocco and Mali are bordering countries.

Algeria is an Arab and Berber country in North Africa. It has a mediterranean sea coastline in the north. Much of recent Algerian history has been dominated by civil wars and subsequent warlordism. That said, the country is gradually restoring order and will prove an interesting - if difficult - destination. The official language is Arabic. Generally, only the young generations in Algeria can understand some English, but most people are able to communicate in French. As in all of North Africa, the dominant religion in Algeria is Islam. Be respectful. If visiting a mosque, for example, be sure to be dressed conservatively and remove your shoes before entering it.

Pictures from the Algerian capital

Have a look at our dedicated photo collection to get a view of what Algiers is like. We have selected more pictures from Algiers on our dedicated gallery page.

The picture antares hydra was uploaded and shared by user aigle13 on panoramio.com

The picture Panorama Algers, Algeria was uploaded and shared by user SpagBog on panoramio.com

Landscape, climate, hints for travelling

The landscape features mostly high plateau and desert with some mountains and narrow, discontinuous coastal plain. The average density of population is about 14 per km². The climate in Algeria can be described as arid to semiarid with mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast, drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau, sirocco being a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer. Potential threats by nature are mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes or mudslides and floods in rainy season.

To reach someone in Algeria dial +213 prior to a number. There are 2,576,000 installed telephones. And there are 32,730,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks operate on frequencies of 900, 1800 Mhz. Websites typically end with the top level domain ".dz". If you want to bring electric appliances (e.g. battery charger), keep in mind the local 230V - 50Hz.

Description of the flag of Algeria

Two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white; a red, five-pointed star within a red crescent centered over the two-color boundary; the colors represent Islam (green), purity and peace (white), and liberty (red); the crescent and star are also Islamic symbols, but the crescent is more closed than those of other Muslim countries because the Algerians believe the long crescent horns bring happiness.

Historical background information

After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), was established in 1954 as part of the struggle for independence and has largely dominated politics since. The Government of Algeria in 1988 instituted a multi-party system in response to public unrest, but the surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting led the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. Fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense violence from 1992-98, resulting in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s, and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA, with the backing of the military, won the presidency in 1999 in an election widely viewed as fraudulent. He was reelected to a second term in 2004 and overwhelmingly won a third term in 2009, after the government amended the constitution in 2008 to remove presidential term limits. Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA, including large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing activities of extremist militants. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 2006 merged with al-Qa'ida to form al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which has launched an ongoing series of kidnappings and bombings targeting the Algerian Government and Western interests. The government in 2011 introduced some political reforms in response to the Arab Spring, including lifting the 19-year-old state of emergency restrictions and increasing women's quotas for elected assemblies. Parliamentary elections in May 2012 and municipal and provincial elections in November 2012 saw continued dominance by the FLN, with Islamist opposition parties performing poorly. Political protest activity in the country remained low in 2012, but small, sometimes violent socioeconomic demonstrations by disparate groups continued to be a common occurrence. Parliament in 2013 is expected to revise the constitution.

Demographic Information

Algeria has 313 citizens over the age of 100 years. Women make up for 181 of this count (which is 58%). 2,766,909 kids are between the age of of 0-5 years (and make up for 8% of the total population). 16.7 babies are born per thousand citizens.

Algerian Age Distribution

Blue bars represent male citizens. Red bars represent female citizens. A pair or bars represents a single age group spanning five years each. Data has been released 2011.

Gender Distribution (Full Population)

Total share of male (blue) and female (red) citizens of the total population of Algeria

Growth of Population (per thousands)

Babies born per thousand citizens (blue) and deaths (red) over the past ten years.

Geography And Economy Facts

2,381,740 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 919,595 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas

Population

33,739,000

Economy Facts

Technology and Economy

Data

Currency

Name: Dinar, Currency Code: DZD

Country Top Level Domain (cTLD)

.dz

Telephone Country Prefix

+213

Mobile Phone Connections

32,730,000

Landline Phone Connections

2,576,000

Military Spendings

3.3% (of GDP, Gross Domestic Product)

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Type of Data

Value

World Rank

Area

2,381,741 (sq km)

10

People and Society

Type of Data

Value

World Rank

Population

38,087,812

34

Population growth rate

1.90 (%)

60

Birth rate

24.25 (births/1,000 population)

62

Death rate

4.31 (deaths/1,000 population)

203

Net migration rate

-0.93 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)

147

Maternal mortality rate

97.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)

75

Infant mortality rate

22.57 (deaths/1,000 live births)

82

Life expectancy at birth

76.18 (years)

82

Total fertility rate

2.78 (children born/woman)

71

Health expenditures

4.20 (% of GDP)

163

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.10 (%)

108

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

18,000

79

HIV/AIDS - deaths

1,000

66

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

16.00 (%)

116

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

3.70 (%)

99

Education expenditures

4.30 (% of GDP)

100

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

21.5 (%)

54

Economy

Type of Data

Value

World Rank

GDP (purchasing power parity)

277,400,000,000

49

GDP - real growth rate

2.50 (%)

121

GDP - per capita (PPP)

7,600

137

Labor force

11,260,000

49

Unemployment rate

10.20 (%)

110

Distribution of family income - Gini index

35

87

Investment (gross fixed)

32.30 (% of GDP)

18

Taxes and other revenues

38.2 (% of GDP)

51

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-2.40 (% of GDP)

92

Public debt

8.80 (% of GDP)

142

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

8.50 (%)

188

Central bank discount rate

4.00 (%)

91

Commercial bank prime lending rate

8.00 (%)

115

Stock of narrow money

110,100,000,000

34

Stock of broad money

150,000,000,000

49

Stock of domestic credit

8,690,000,000

106

Industrial production growth rate

-3.10 (%)

159

Current account balance

19,950,000,000

19

Exports

76,840,000,000

48

Imports

47,530,000,000

56

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

190,500,000,000

14

Debt - external

4,344,000,000

122

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home

24,680,000,000

65

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad

2,424,000,000

70

Energy

Type of Data

Value

World Rank

Electricity - production

40,220,000,000 (kWh)

59

Electricity - consumption

31,390,000,000 (kWh)

61

Electricity - exports

405,000,000 (kWh)

63

Electricity - imports

369,000,000 (kWh)

81

Electricity - installed generating capacity

10380000 (kW)

55

Electricity - from fossil fuels

97.3 (% of total installed capacity)

62

Electricity - from hydroelectric plants

2.7 (% of total installed capacity)

133

Crude oil - production

1,885,000 (bbl/day)

16

Crude oil - exports

697,500 (bbl/day)

20

Crude oil - imports

8,152 (bbl/day)

79

Crude oil - proved reserves

12260000000 (bbl)

18

Refined petroleum products - production

447,100 (bbl/day)

34

Refined petroleum products - consumption

316,400 (bbl/day)

41

Refined petroleum products - exports

446,500 (bbl/day)

18

Refined petroleum products - imports

11,700 (bbl/day)

130

Natural gas - production

84,610,000,000 (cu m)

11

Natural gas - consumption

28,820,000,000 (cu m)

30

Natural gas - exports

55,790,000,000 (cu m)

7

Natural gas - proved reserves

4,502,000,000,000 (cu m)

11

Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy

110,900,000 (Mt)

39

Communications

Type of Data

Value

World Rank

Telephones - main lines in use

3,059,000

50

Telephones - mobile cellular

35,616,000

32

Internet hosts

676

178

Internet users

4,700,000

49

Transportation

Type of Data

Value

World Rank

Airports

142

41

Railways

3,973 (km)

44

Roadways

113,655 (km)

39

Merchant marine

38

76

Military

Type of Data

Value

World Rank

Military expenditures

4.30 (% of GDP)

23

Based on the content from wikitravel.org. The original article can be found here based on the work of these users. Geography information is based on the data provided by geonames.org, CIA world facts book Edition 2010, 2013 and 2014, Unesco, DBpedia, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases as well as other sources.